Sanctum of Tears (Hiatus)
by Shrapnel893
Summary: A young Dietrich is torn from those precious to her and forced to become one of the silver-eyed defenders called Claymores after the destruction of her hometown; the desire of wanting to see those she left behind ever burning in the depths her heart. And, even if she has to cleave her way through the bowels of hell itself in order to do so, she will find them again.
1. Whirlwind

**|. Whirlwind**

The soil outside the orphanage slushed as she stuck her hand down into it, bits of grass and clumps of mud clinging to her fingers. Crumbling the soil in her palm, she wiped what remained on the front of her apron. Somewhat brown eyes on the flower field the children had prepared nights before, she smiled at their handiwork. As she walked down the various rows full of vibrant colors, plucking one of each, she came to a stop at the fence that separated the orphanage from the rest of town. Two soldiers were lazily slumped on their spears in front of the town's back-gate and she watched as one of them turned his head to say something to the other, inclining his open-faced helm in her direction. With a wave, she leaned on the fence and held up one of the flowers.

"Look at this!" she shouted over, the flower's yellow petals seeming to shine ever brighter underneath the morning sun. "I bet neither of you could ever make something so beautiful!" The soldier who'd pointed at her earlier smiled, nudging the other fully awake. With quick steps, he made his way over and removed his helm the moment he came to the opposite side of the fence.

Helm in gloved hands, he held it under her chin. "Two please, Elda. One for me and that standing corpse over there."

"You didn't have to leave your post, I was going to bring them over..."

"I wanted to see the beauty of them up close, and since you're such as slow wal— _mmph!_" Elda shoved the yellow flower's stem into his mouth. In the helm were two other flowers, one red and the other blue, and she knocked him back with a flick on the forehead. "What was that for?" he asked, chewing on the stem.

"You already know why, so don't bother asking." Elda responded, parting a strand of pale-blonde hair from her face. "I know why you're really here, Kuno, and, once again, I have to decline."

"So you still won't consider me?" His hand was on hers and she quickly drew it away. "Elda... I..."

Elda shook her head. "Sorry, Kuno, but I just... things right now are very... complicated... for me, a—"

"Then, after you settle those things, I'll be waiting for your real answer!" Kuno exclaimed, helm under one arm now, grinning widely. "So... until next time!" He waved good-bye and hurried back to his post, casting one last glance as he hefted his spear and winked when he caught her eye.

Inside the orphanage after having hastily left in a huff, Elda put her back to her room's door, eyes downcast, and grasped at the folds of her apron. Reaching into one of her pockets, she pulled out two round, small, mud-colored pills. Already feeling her dose from the night before starting to wear off, she chewed them sorrowfully and put a hand in the wedge between her room's dressing drawers. A frown on her lips, she sighed and left to wake the children for the day's activities. Going into the girl's dorm first, she quietly shook each girl, telling them to dress as she went to the boy's dorm next. They were the harder to wake, as usual.

Once all the children were accounted for, she split them into groups by correlation of the color they chose for their flower. Shuffling them outside, she could feel Kuno's eyes wander briefly to her, and trying her best not to show acknowledgment, told the children to put their flowers into their baskets for the midday's activity. Aiming to help a few of them along, she shook her head when she came to the first and last two troublemakers she was going to put up with for the day — Dietrich and Alric.

The two of them were arguing over how many flowers each of them were allowed to carry in their baskets, being two out of the three to grow blue flowers. Heinrike was trying her best to defuse the situation, but the softness of her voice was like a trickling stream against two roaring waterfalls.

"Three. We each get three and that'll be enough for all of us to carry!"

"There are more than five flowers! If we carry more at once, we'll get done faster!"

"_Nine_ flowers, and, no, if we carry them all at once they'll weigh us down! I don't want to lose because of _you!_"

"Hey, guys, Miss Elda is—"

"They're stupid flowers! Flowers aren't _rocks_, carrying all of them wouldn't be a problem!"

"But that's not what the instructions were! She said we have to carry only as much as who's in our group. You, me, and Heike!" Dietrich poked him in the chest and he pushed her down, the two of them rolling around and crushing some of their flowers as they proceeded to scuffle. Meanwhile, Heinrike plucked all the ones she could before they flatted them all and looked up at her with pleading eyes.

With a sigh and crack of her neck, Elda picked the two of them up, staring them down. "What are you two doing? This always happens when you're grouped together, can't you learn to get along for once?"

"I try but this dullard always—!"

"Who're you calling a dullard?!" He grabbed her cheek and pulled.

She pulled back. "You, you dullard! I bet you don't even know what a dullard is!"

"I do too, it's the thingy you put around a cattle's neck!"

"See?" Dietrich pointed a finger, earning a scowl from Alric.

Another shake of her head, "You two really need to learn to get along..."

— **«¤¥¤» —**

Supervising the children as they handed out their flowers, Elda kept a close eye on Dietrich and Alric. Heinrike was still calming the waters between them and she hoped her words would reach them. Watching each of the townspeople that received a flower, she made a fist at her side and bit down on her bottom lip slightly, trying to suppress her years of instinct.

No, there weren't any yoma this far east, close enough to the Organization's heart; yet far enough away to not raise much suspicion. There was no need for any of that anymore — she was no longer a part of the Organization. She didn't want to draw unwanted attention to her presence here, especially after yesterday, when the Black Suit had been thrown out. He'd been here for her, she was sure of it. Managing to live here for so long peacefully, right under their noses, she knew it wouldn't last.

Even the slightest hint of her _Yoki_ leaking out would have them converging on the town in an instant. She couldn't allow that no matter what. Her eyes moved from person to person, a hand reaching for her pocket once again.

Kuno and a detachment of soldiers were loitering around the town's square and she unintentionally caught his eye again. Looking away immediately, she crushed the pill she'd taken out to dust, unmeaning to, and grit her teeth. She couldn't accept his proposal — someone like her was no good. Something like her wasn't worthy enough for a man as kind as he was. Letting the remains of the pill disappear with the midday's light breeze, she wished will all of her selfish heart to be able to stay just a bit longer, surrounded by the people and town she called home.

Just then, she felt something in the pit of her gut — a disgusting sensation that slithered inside her intestines and made her pupils dilate as her eyes slowly started to lose their brown palette. Turning her head to the side, she held her forearm down, veins bulging from the skin beneath her sleeves. The rest of her pills were stored in her room at the orphanage, and she couldn't leave the children unattended.

She— _a shrill torrent of screams snapped her attention to the town's front-gate._ Everyone gathered in the town's square started to run in a panic as the unmistakable call of a yoma reverberated towards them. The call of death. Kuno and the other soldiers were mobilizing towards the sound as townspeople were bumping one another over in their haste to escape. Elda crouched down and rounded the children up, quickly making a head count.

"I want all of you to follow me to the orphanage and hide in the cellar, can you guys do that?" Scared, they all clung to one another and she was about to offer words of encouragement when there was a sharp tug on her apron.

"What's going on?" It was Alric.

"Nothing to worry over." Then, "When we get to the orphanage, can I could on you and Dietrich to make sure everyone stays as absolutely quiet as they can?" He nodded and she rubbed his hair. "I'm counting on you two— this is the perfect opportunity for you to learn cooperation." She smiled reassuringly and stood up. "Let's go, kids!" Pushing Alric in front of her, she led them to the orphanage, hoping her _Yoki_ would stay suppressed until then.

— **«¤¥¤» —**

Now at the orphanage, and having made sure the children were secure, Elda pulled away from the wedge between her dressing drawers and took the cloth concealed claymore in her hands. Ripping off the cloth, fingers touching the red symbol carved into the blade just above the guard, she turned on her heel and made her way out the door.

Outside now, she rushed to the town's front-gate, the presence of yoma heightening her already superhuman perceptions. Whatever yoma was attacking the town, it was similar to that of an Awakened Being.

Running through deserted pathways, past the town's square, she felt with each step the guards trying to keep it at bay, their numbers diminishing very quickly, very suddenly. Jumping over an overturned cart where blood, severed limbs, and entrails were strewn across the ground along with various fruit and vegetables, Kuno and the others must have drawn it further away from the town than she'd realized, for nothing alive was at the front-gate.

In the wooded area just ahead, she could sense the yoma's hunger. Kuno was there, along with three others — all that remained of the town's guard. All four were bloodied, Kuno missing his right arm, a crimson bandage hastily tied around the wound. Blood dripped from it, his spear discarded for the smaller sword he kept at his hip in his other hand, unwieldy from the loss of his dominate one.

"All of you stand back!" she shouted, muscling her way to the front, claymore thrust out and downwards defensively. "This yoma is too powerful for any of you!" She turned to the guard with the least sever injuries, "I need you to take the others and retreat! Evacuate the people still inside!" As his eyes meet hers, she saw the dread of recognition at their color. Even so, he nodded.

"Elda!" Kuno came forward, the skin of his fingers stretching at how tightly he grasped his sword. "What do you think you're doing?! It's not safe out here! The kids at the—!"

"You get out of here! That's an order!" She pushed him back. "Go back to the town now!"

The guard she'd given the retreat order to clasped his shoulder. "She's one of those, a Silver-Eyed Witch. If anyone is going to fight that thing, then she's—"

He shrugged him off, "Elda! Fighting that thing is suicide! It took all of us just to lure it away! Even if you are a Silver-Eyed—!"

"I've seen my fair share of these bastards! I'll be fine! Now do as I said and get away from here!" She pushed him back again, but he continued to press forward stubbornly.

"_Elda!_" Kuno forcibly pressed his lips against hers and immediately stepped back, eyes locked on hers. They held no fear, even when she unleashed a fraction of her _Yoki_, silver turning golden yellow, pupils forming into contracted slits similar to that of a snake's. "Don't die, you still haven't given me your answer!"

She shot forward, burying the ground beneath her feet, a tear in her eye as she sensed the yoma's _Yoki_ aura idly waiting for her. Before she even saw the tentacles protruding from where its arms should have been, its armored slug-like lower body, exposed breasts of its upper body, or its pointed head, she knew it was powerful; confirming what she'd perceived earlier. Formerly a being like herself — a half-human, half-yoma warrior.

The being's current form was the result of having ultimately exceeded her _Yoki_ limit, unable to revert back. An Awakened Being. Glaring at her former fellow warrior's eyes, she wanted to make its end as painless as possible. As quick as possible. The Awakened Being's upper body swayed back and forth seductively, a tentacle wrapping itself around and up to its mouth where it licked the pointed end.

"Such reckless abandon from one so young. Do you know the penalty for leaving the Organization, girl?" The Awakened Being looked briefly to the sun dipping behind the trees and sighed. "Not that it matters to me anymore, and I suspect from the fierce look in your eye that you've long since come to terms..." The tentacle snaked across the ground, reaching for the bisected remains of a guard at its armored bottom, lifting the remains to its mouth, blood dripping as it savored the taste. When it finished wringing them dry, tossing what was left aside, it focused its attention back to her. "Such... _reckless abandon..._" Without warning, it lashed out with one of its tentacle-arms and she deflected it, slicing it near the tip as she crouched under a low swipe from the other. The Awakened Being blinked at the now tip-less tentacle. "Such... _ferocity..._"

Counterattacking, Elda sprang forward and jumped high into the air, aiming for the Awakened Being's head as she brought her claymore downward, only to have its other tentacle pierce her in the side and throw her to the ground. Spitting up blood, she ripped the intruding tentacle out and slashed it apart, getting to her feet unfazed. Her wound closed shut almost instantaneously, just as the Awakened Being lashed out again, the tip regrown from the other tentacle as, again, she blocked the attack, though forced back a few steps. It was increasing the power it put behind its attacks. _If she didn't deal the death-blow fast, then—_ she cut a sudden thrust in half, the tentacle parting on either side of her.

Hunkering down, she planted the end of her claymore into the ground, building tension in her legs, strength in her arms, and leaped, spinning like a top as she drove into the Awakened Being's upper body. Feet firmly on its slug-like lower body, she twisted the claymore around until it came free, ready to behead it when both of its tentacles pierced her back and came out through the other side. Gritting her teeth, she increased the output of her _Yoki _a fraction further than before, gaining the needed burst of strength to break free from the tentacles and cleave off its head.

Clutching her abdomen, she quickly sealed the holes and got back to her feet again. She felt them — a whole horde of Awakened Beings were converging on her location, the one she'd just taken down likely an impatient straggler, and smirked. There was no way she'd be able to fight a number of this many, even if her ranking had been No. Six during her time with the Organization, after that girl had surpassed her and everyone else at a breakneck pace. Well, one thing was clear — she wasn't as rusty as she first thought.

Looking back towards the direction of the town, she had to get back. Warn Kuno and the others, see if they evacuated the townspeople like she'd ordered, make sure the children were alright. _So many things..._ She turned back to the horde of approaching Awakened Beings, hefting her claymore. Elda of the Whirlwind's Wrath... it was time she took up her nickname once again...

For the sake of the town and its people she called home.

— **«¤¥¤» —**

"Are the monsters still out there...?" one of the orphanage children confined in the cellar asked the one-armed man and his three companions.

A sad smile stretched itself across the man's face as he responded, "The monsters are all gone. They won't get to you kids in here..."

"Where's Miss Elda?" another spoke up, squeezing her way through the huddled crowd of children. "She isn't still out there... is she...?"

"Yeah, where's Miss Elda?!"

Shortly after this question was asked, the children quipped in unison, until the man put a finger to his lips. Silence. He turned to one of the others and nodded. The other man hurried up the cellar stairs, an orange hue illuminating his outline from the outside.

"I want all of you to come with me, can you kids do that?" The girl who'd first asked the question of Elda's whereabouts nodded. "Are you saying you'll be first?"

"Yes."

The man smiled again. "Then lead the way." He parted from the stairs and watched her walk up the steps, making sure not to generate any unnecessary noise in the process. "Alright, the rest of you follow her example."

Once all of the children were safely outside the cellar, the orange hue from earlier was found to be much brighter. _Hotter._ The town was in flames, the tops of houses burning, the smell of ash and smoke assaulting them as they stood and watched. Dietrich looked up at the man with the missing right arm and frowned. She realized he was one of the town's guards then, upon seeing the sword sheathed at his hip. His fist was clenched tightly, his bottom lip bleeding from how hard he was biting it.

"Mister, is something the matter?"

The man didn't relax. "Someone I care about is over there..."

"In the town?" He nodded. "What's she doing? Fighting?" No response. "Is it Miss Elda...?" This time, he looked down at her, tears at the corners of his eyes.

"It's Miss Elda?!" Alric shouted. His eyes went the town, "She's in trouble! Why aren't you guys helping her?!"

The man grit his teeth. "That's exactly what I was wondering..." he spat. Then, "Take care of the kids..." Immediately after uttering the words, he took out his sword and ran towards the town, over his shoulder shouting, "Lead them to somewhere safe!" He disappeared through the town's back-gate.

As one of the other guards started to round them up, Dietrich felt someone tug on her arm.

"We have to get Miss Elda..." Alric whispered, Heinrike clinging over his shoulder. "We can't just leave without her!"

"That guard said—"

"It doesn't matter what he said! We need to get Miss Elda! We have to save her! Right, Heike?" Heinrike's head shook in agreement, big blue eyes moving from Dietrich to the town.

"This isn't some stupid adventure! If we go looking for her, we may never come back! It's not one of your stupid boy games!"

"So?"

"But—!" Dietrich saw the determination in his eyes, the concern in Heinrike's, then went down to the mud-caked outdoor shoes all the orphanage children wore, a heart symbol scribbled on the toe. She went to the one on Alric's. Heinrike's. "We're going to get in serious trouble for this..."

"Not if we find her!" He smiled broadly, punching her lightly in the shoulder. "Come on Dietrich!"

"Hey, where do you think you're going?! It's not safe! _Come back!_" one of the guards yelled as the three of them split from the group for the back-gate.

"Keep going! Hurry!"

Alric led the way, running inside one of the undamaged houses, crouching under a window that looked out to the street. Dietrich was beside him a split-second later, Heinrike crawling over last. Peeking, the only thing he saw was burning houses and other debris.

"Do you hear that?" Dietrich said, cheek touching his as she peeked too.

He averted his eyes. "H-hear what?"

"Shhh. Listen." The sounds of fighting. "It's coming from that direction." He followed her gaze to the path that led to the town's square. "Miss Elda must be over there..."

"Y-you think so?" Heinrike asked, cheek against hers, now peeking as well. "I don't see that man... the g-guard... is he... dead...?"

"I don't think so..."

"Only one way to find out." Alric went to the backdoor and creaked it open, poking his nose out at the surroundings. "It's clear, come on!" He gently pushed it open and crept along the wall, stopping at the corner. Dietrich and Heinrike were directly behind, waiting. Taking a deep breath, he peeked again. Nothing. "Come on!" He ran to the adjacent house, using the same tactic as before. A third time. A fourth.

"We're almost there." Dietrich commented.

Alric came up to the latest corner and froze the moment he looked around the other side. Trying to control his breathing, he hugged the wall again.

"What is it?"

"Did you see something?"

"One of those things... was _eating_ something..." They heard it then — the rending of flesh, the crunching of bone. "I don't think it saw me, but we have to move carefully or it'll notice us, I think..." He dared another quick peek. "Alright, he's still eating... _now...!_" Getting on his knees, he crawled with all his might to the other wall, Dietrich and Heinrike following suit. He smiled, panting. "We made it..."

"And the square is right there."

"Uh-huh!" Not forgetting the earlier encounter, Alric peeked around this newest corner. "We're clear! Come on!"

He rushed forward to one of the stands still set-up from the midday's produce sales. Dietrich slide beside him right after, but Heinrike stumbled and knocked her leg into it, generating noise. All three waited breathlessly. Above the stand, they heard growling — _one of the monsters had found them!_ Its shadow stretched across the booth, and they continued to hold their breath as one of its greenish claw-like hands grabbed the end. They got clear as it smashed down into the booth, its mouth dripping with saliva.

"Three for me! I love the taste of small children!" it garbled. "Especially girlies..." It reached for Heinrike as she quivered on the ground, but Alric stood in front of her, blocking its path.

"Don't touch her!"

The monster smirked, fangs visible. Its pointed ears perked up in acknowledgment. "A brave boy, aren't you? I think I'll eat you first!" The monster struck out with its claws, about to stab through Alric's eye when it suddenly pulled back, its arm gone. Purple blood gushed from the wound as it howled.

"Wh—!" Its head came free shortly after, rolling away as its body then slumped sideways. Behind it was the man with one arm, sword seeped in purple monster blood.

"What are you three doing here?! You should all be back with the others! You know it isn't safe here!"

"We came for Miss Elda!" Alric replied, kicking the monster's severed head.

"And we aren't leaving until then!" Dietrich added, Heinrike nodding her agreement despite the tears streaming down her face.

"No, you kids have to—!" Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by something crashing into the roof behind him. Whatever it was fell to the ground and got up a few moments after via the assistance of a giant sword.

"Miss Elda!"

"Alric?!" the golden yellow eyed figure shouted. "What are you doing here?! And Dietrich... Heinrike..." Then, "Kuno! I thought I told you to—!"

"They came here on their own, I had noth—"

"And I thought I told _you_ not to come after me!"

"Elda, I—!"

"Go! Get the three of them out while the yoma are still—" She barreled out of the way of two monsters, bisecting them, their purple blood spraying like twin fountains. "Now! Get them to safety. That's an order!"

"Miss Elda, we're not—!"

"Now isn't the time, _dammit!_" Elda roared, just as a giant twisting hand came down on her, blowing the house away.

"_Elda!_"

"_Miss Elda!_"

Light erupted from the kicked up dust and debris that used to be the house, an inhuman warcry echoing all around as Elda reappeared from the remains relatively unharmed, shaking off planks of splintered wood. Her face was warped, slightly resembling one of the monsters. All around her body, the air look electrified, blue light exploding as her body started to warp as well, become more muscular as her warcry intensified, drowning out all other sounds momentarily.

"Kuno... _please...!_" Her voice was distorted, full of pain. She shot forward then, reducing the ground where she'd stood into a miniature crater, launching herself at whatever had destroyed the house. The four of them saw her spinning so fast that the air enveloping her body became visible and electrified, as if she were the center of a tornado. They heard a cry of agony as her giant sword ripped through the equally giant monster she was fighting.

Kuno grabbed Alric by the arm, turned him around, and pushed him into Dietrich. "Girl, make a run for it..." His eyes were glued on Elda. "Now."

Dietrich nodded. "Right!"

"But Dietrich, Miss Elda!"

"There's nothing we can do! Come on, you dullard!" She grabbed him and Heinrike, only looking back to see the guard named Kuno rushing to Elda's side just as the town square shook with the arrival of something large. Something massive.

Stumbling, Alric and Heinrike fell on top of her and they then looked back to see what it was; what could have caused the ground to shake so violently.

Directly above Elda and Kuno was an enormous spiked monster with tentacles protruding from its underside. Without warning, it slammed the ground and the shock-wave sent the three of them flying. Her vision wavered as she hit the ground and watched Elda stand to her feet again, bloodied giant sword at her side, Kuno lying at her feet, tears falling from her eyes as she roared a ferocious warcry at the monster.

— **«¤¥¤» —**

When she regained consciousness again, there was a man in a black suit standing near her, his beady eyes like that of the dead, glossed over and cold. He said something, and she thought it was: "_What do you want most in the world?_" Half-shut eyes still adjusting to her environment, she felt the heat from a fire, but nothing else; none of her friends, no guards, no Elda — the town nowhere in sight.

"I want to see them again."

And the man in the black suit just smiled at the answer.


	2. Realization

**||. Realization**

Walking along the torn earth of the battlefield, Elda stared at the massive craters scattered all around, bits of bark and rock littered everywhere. Up ahead was a man who looked ready to topple over, eyes to the sky and dried blood caked down his temple. In the center of the destruction, he just sat there waiting. It didn't matter what for, or even if he was waiting at all, all that did was the fact he was before her here and now. No one else in sight.

"Are you here for Priscilla as well?" he asked, eyes never leaving the sky above. He smiled faintly then. "No, something else entirely. Your aura is completely hidden, but you can't hide what you are from a being such as myself."

"The one who sent those yoma and Awakened Beings from the Northern Lands was you, wasn't it?"

"And what does it matter to someone such as yourself? You're no longer held by the Organization's chains. There is no reason for you to kill me." She unsheathed her claymore and poised it downwards. "Unless, you just want to for something else entirely."

"Stand, you bastard." She tossed a sword towards him.

"Fighting on equal terms? You could just have cut me down from behind… not that you'd succeed."

"I said stand!"

With a smirk, he rose to his feet and picked up the sword, swinging it once. "It has a decent weight, a solid swing. Perfect for this form." Pointing the tip toward the ground, he continued, "You must've searched a great deal for this. Tell me, since you've gone to such lengths to not only travel here to see me, but fight me one-on-one in a fair fight, what it is that you desire from me?"

"An apology."

"Oh? Is that all? What for?"

"For taking everything away from them."

"From whom?"

"The ones I cared for..."

"The people precious to you? Well, sadly I'm not responsible for any loss of life that happened after I'd given my orders. I told them only to head for the Organization, not to maim, kill, and devour anything along the way."

"That still doesn't change the fact…!"

"Your heart is… dark and clouded. If an apology will purify it once again, then… I apologize for any anguish I may have caused you."

"Not me, you bastard. Them. Tell them, not me!"

"And how would I be able to do that?"

"When I cut you to pieces and scatter your remains across this battlefield!"

Swiping the sword he'd been given in front of himself, the man only smiled. "Very well. Come and cross swords with me, Claymore. We shall see who sends the other to the afterlife!"

— **«¤¥¤» —**

Sinking. Further, deeper, faster. He tried to struggle against that which pulled him down, that which kept him from the surface, only to grasp at the dirt and dew. The darkness grew the more he tried; resisted. A stripe of light from above was the only thing seen and he reached for it, desperately. Suffocatingly so. And, when his hands touched the light, his eyes opened, revealing it to be just a dream.

A fleeting memory, as he stared at the damp ceiling of rock and earth's bone. Dazed, he blinked at the teeth that pointed downwards at him, great in number and covering the ceiling's surface. Some of them dripped water, plunking on the hard ground he lay on as well as himself.

Propping himself by an elbow, he blinked for a second time. Third. He could smell something that made his mouth moist, realize the need for food; that he was no longer in the town.

His weary eyes went to the woman sitting by a small fire, her back to him as she peered into its flame, a piece of meat hanging over it. Trying to rise, he winced and fell back down, what felt like sharp sticks being run through his thigh.

"I wouldn't move around so suddenly," the woman advised. Her eyes hadn't left the fire. "The wound to your leg is still healing."

Looking down at his thigh, it was wrapped in a bandage. His shirt — the bottom half was torn.

"There was nothing else for me to use."

Going back to the bandage, he gently touched around the area. As the tips of his fingers moved across its surface, they sunk as he came to the center. Where the blood was the thickest.

"It didn't rip your leg from the rest of your body, but it did manage to get quite a hold."

He looked at her then. Her hair touched the ground and, at first, she appeared to be naked. Only, upon a red-cheeked second look, she wore a pale gray, nearly skin-colored two-piece outfit. When she turned slightly, it clung to her figure tightly, defining her chest and other curvaceous features.

"It's ready. Take it."

The piece of meat landed on his abdomen, and he quickly slapped it off, a throbbing red mark now on his exposed skin. Bouncing it between his hands like a juggler, the woman raised an eyebrow.

"Eat it once it's cooled down. You're going to need your strength back." She waited until he no longer looked like a fool and held the piece of meat one-handed, palms equally as red as his abdomen. "You haven't eaten anything since the day before yesterday and most of that time was spent recovering from the wound." There was a fleshy rip as he started. "We'll be moving on shortly."

After finishing the piece of meat, he licked his fingers and crossed his legs, albeit with difficulty. "What's your name?"

"Galatea," she answered, slipping on what looked to be an oversized shoulder pad. He watched her slip another onto the other and flex her arm, her physique leanly muscular. Next came what looked to be half a skirt that fastened around her waist. "Are you frightened?" Her eyes were on him now. Just like any other human's… only… they were silver. Just like Miss Elda's had been. "Well, you have nothing to fear from me." She eased herself to the ground and proceeded to slip a boot onto either foot. "Are you interested in the armor that I wear?"

"It's kinda lame."

She chuckled. "Yes, I would have to agree with you," she replied with a grunt, standing to her feet once again, the boots clattering on the rock. They went up to her shin. She then put on wrist guards. "It's not exactly practical." Reaching down, she hefted a giant sword, like the one he'd seen Miss Elda with, sheathing it behind her back. "Though, I can't complain as it's not cumbersome in the slightest. The cape is also a nice touch." She flung said cape around, showing it off.

"What's that mean?"

"What it means, boy, is it enhances my features to a certain—"

"No, I mean that word…" He scratched an ear.

Her smile twitched. "Don't interrupt—"

"Cumbersome…"

A vein bulged. "It means _'don't interrupt me when I'm speaking'_."

He eyed her suspiciously. "Really?"

"Yes, why would I—"

"I bet you're lying. I can see it in that ugly face you're making."

She made a noise, closing and unclosing a hand. "I know the Whirlwind's Wrath told me to watch over you, boy, but right now you're trying my patience."

"I'm Alric, lady," he retorted as he dug something out the same ear he'd scratched and flung it somewhere. "I'm not just 'boy'."

"And I'm Galatea, as I've already told you." She took a seething step forward. "Not 'lady'."

"I don't care."

"You're the one who asked me in the first place!" She raised her voice and immediately lowered it again. Crouching down, she stared him straight in the eyes. "The Whirlwind's Wrath entrusted you to me. Honoring that, I am to see to your safety."

"Your breath smells." He was oblivious to the scowl now etched onto her face. "And what's this 'Whirlwind's Wrath' you're going on about? Did you let one loose or something?"

"Elda."

His face lit up. "Miss Elda?! Where is she?!" He pressed his forehead into hers. "Tell me! Tell me! _Tell me_!"

"She went to take the others of your town to safety."

"You're lying! I can see it in your eyes!" Ending their contact, Alric turned around, staring at the ground. "And Heinrike?! What about Dietrich?!" He was facing her now.

Assuming her full height once again, Galatea studied him for a moment. The way he glared at her, fists clenched, not at all bothered by their vast difference in height. "And what would you have me tell you? That they're alright? Safe from the yoma that attacked your town?"

"The truth!"

"Dead." She took note of the recognition that passed him by. "You were the only one I found alive. A yoma had taken you by the leg and was going to devour you. I saved you."

"And… the town…?"

"Destroyed."

He wiped the tears that came to his eyes, "And why'd you save me? Why _me_?"

"I already told you the reason." She put out the fire and nodded for him to follow as she started to make for the cave entrance. "It's still morning and I would like to move on." Taking the first couple of steps, a dismal light ahead, she peered over her shoulder to see him obeying. Head held high as he bore into her back; silent.

Coming to the entrance, she carefully slipped between the trees with the boy following her every step and every movement.

"Our destination is Mucha, in the South." Ducking under a low hanging branch, she looked back to see the boy just walk right underneath it, eyes focused only on the claymore sheathed on her back. "There are a few things I have to take care of there." Her boots crushed any and all leaves, twigs, and brush in their path, making the trek relatively easy for him. "Normally it would take me a few days' journey to make it there, but to compensate for you it may take longer. Up ahead is a small village where you can purchase food and drink for the coming days."

"What about you?"

"I can sustain myself much longer than you can."

"Is that why you're so cranky? Because you haven't eaten anything?"

"I'm _this_ close, boy."

"You're calling me boy again, lady."

Galatea resisted the urge to snap something back and keep her attention on the way ahead. She hadn't felt any _Yoki_ auras in the vicinity, the likely reason being the small army that'd attacked the boy's town had moved further east; the direction of the Organization. This assumption was furthered by the mass of auras she'd felt in that direction the day before, but now…

It was silent. As if any trace had been snuffed out and buried.

As well, she couldn't sense the Whirlwind's presence. So, then, she was eluding capture again it seemed. Just as she'd said. The last words spoken to her that day had been from that woman's mouth, after all. She stopped walking, the boy bumping into her and complaining about her "slow pace".

"Be silent."

The boy crossed his arms and turned to a tree, whereupon she paid him no further attention.

The direction she'd left had been towards the South, and this was one of the main reasons she was heading there with the boy. _"Don't lose sight of him,"_ she'd told her.

_When he's well enough to travel I want the two of you to come to Sterret in the Southern Lands._

The town of Sterret was near the heart of Mucha. Relatively small, away from prying eyes and rarely patrolled by the Organization. A very well-thought of location for a meet-up. The Southern Lands themselves were the territory of Luciela, but that unmistakable presence from the area was just as silent as the small army that'd went east. Could it possibly mean that Luciela of the South was destroyed? If so, then by whom? By _what_? The Abyssal Ones could only be defeated by another of their kind. If one of her own had decided to invade her territory, the only one who fit would be Isley of the North.

If she concentrated her detection of any _Yoki_ auras from the direction of Lautrec, there was something residual. Terrifyingly so. Which could only mean Riful. That being the case, Isley was likely somewhere in the Southern Lands. Meaning he'd long since been gone from the Northern Lands before that final battle. Was that why the Whirlwind's Wrath had told her to go there? It didn't make sense, unless she sought something from an encounter with him. Did she need her strength, then? If so, then why bring the boy? All told, he was useless and would be nothing but a burden.

And, since the small army that'd went further east was annihilated so quickly, that meant Alicia and Beth were bound to be moving quickly south, to deal with Isley. Shouldn't she have sensed their combined _Yoki_ auras then? Yet, there'd been nothing and there still wasn't.

There must be something she'd missed... If only their conversation had revealed more of her fellow warrior's real thoughts; what her real intentions were. Instead, she was in the dark with a troublesome tag-along that she couldn't rid herself of. Glancing back to the boy, what exactly was he to her? What kind of life had Elda been living all this time away from the Organization?

"Say, boy, about Elda. What affiliation did she have with you and the others in your town?" He was busy poking a stick at the tree, mumbling to himself. The way he held the stick was like that of a swordsman, and the way he poked was like the thrust from a sword. The tree was his enemy. His moves were clumsy and hardly resembling anything of a competent warrior, though. "Alric, I don't have time for any childish games."

"You say something?" He scored a hit and ducked under an invisible swipe from what she assumed was a yoma. It was the only kind of enemy he'd seen in the world, thus far. As far as she was aware. Going for another attack, his stick snapped and the broken piece bounced toward her feet, resting at the tip of one of her boots. "Miss Elda... was our teacher..." he said then, frowning as he held up the now ruined stick. "At the orphanage." Tossing it, he turned to her, his eyes on hers. He pointed at one of his shoes, a heart drawn on it. "She took care of us when nobody else would." Briefly going to the ground, he seemed to be deep in thought. "She... seemed to worry over the girls more than the boys. Like Heinrike and Dietrich."

"The girls... Yes that would make sense." She started forward again. "Come on, we have to make it to the village before nightfall."

"B-but that doesn't mean she didn't treat all of us the same!" he added hastily, stopping her. "She... Miss Elda was always kind to all of us..."

"So, what you're saying is: Elda was concerned about each and every one of you. Whether they be girls or boys?" He nodded and she again started to continue toward the village. "Well, whatever she was like, we still have a village to get to."

"Wait! Why'd you want to know more about Miss Elda?!"

"Because we share a similar predicament."

— **«¤¥¤» —**

Parrying a strike from below, Elda pushed down and pinned Isley's sword to the ground, coming up to catch him in the throat; only to have him lean backwards and evade. He came up with his sword again and knocked hers aside, thrusting for her shoulder. Leaping back, she sank her claymore into the ground to stop her momentum. Slowly, he started forward and keep his sword in front of himself, only lowering it when he came within striking distance. Even in his weakened state, she knew the bastard could easily strike her down at any moment if she let her guard down.

Gathering tension in her legs and strength in her arms, she had to hit harder, waiting until the moment he attacked to rip her claymore from the ground. Moving her right foot forward with enough force to further break the already broken ground, she bore the claymore down on his head, knowing the attack was too slow for one as fast as Isley and spread the same foot outwards, spinning and simultaneously crouching low while keeping her claymore at waist level, generating a deadly whirlwind around her body. When it ended she drove all that force at Isley as he blocked the attack, the proceeding shockwave blowing away everything in the immediate area not rooted down.

"Impressive." Isley complimented as he gave slightly under the strain of her attack, "You're no stranger to the ways of swordsmanship, that much is clear." Pushing her away despite her efforts, he ended their entanglement and cut her shoulder as she managed to rend a bit of flesh from his forearm, her claymore clattering to the ground as her sword-arm went limp. She clutched the wound, lifting her chin as he pointed the end of his sword at her throat. "Though, I'm afraid it wasn't enough." Studying his defeated opponent for a moment, he retracted his sword and stabbed it into the ground. "What is your name, Claymore?"

"Elda," she spat.

"Elda? Elda..." He nodded some kind of approval. "What is it that you truly want from me?"

"Sterret, due west of here. I want you to go there in a few days' time and wait for another warrior. There should be a boy accompanying her." A pause as she waited. If he had any questions, he didn't voice them, so she continued."The warrior is unimportant, but the boy... I want you to..." Tears were starting to run down her cheeks, "Say to him that you're deeply sorry for everything that's happened. That no matter what, the ones you care about are surely alive and wishing to see you again. To stay strong and grow stronger. To never lose your nerve and never hesitate to do the things you may regret later on in life."

"And this boy's name?"

"Alric."

"Who is the Claymore that will be with him?"

"A deserter, like myself."

"And you are sure she will not be followed by any of the Organization?"

"She's reliable. There's nothing to fear."

"Who said I was afraid?" Isley went from her to her claymore. "Pick up your sword, warrior. I will do as you request, but nothing more. This is a reward for showing me a good time. It's not everyday that I meet someone with as much skill as you. Even among your fellow Claymores, I can tell your technique is... honed from years of practice."

She grimaced and took her claymore in her other hand. "I haven't used this thing in many years."

"All the more impressive. You are a fellow warrior in my eyes, and nothing from this point on will change that."

Sheathing her claymore, Elda looked in the direction of Sterret. "Glad... to hear it..."

Isley followed her gaze and picked up the sword she'd given him. "Would you mind if I keep this sword?" She didn't reply. He shook his head with a grimace of his own. "Well, fellow warrior, I wonder if we'll see each other again in our travels." When her eyes left the direction of Sterret, he had disappeared.

Flexing her previously wounded arm, the would having healed in that short amount of time they'd been talking, Elda started in a direction opposite Sterret. In the way she was now headed, there was a secluded area members of the Organization were stationed in. She'd find them and learn all that she could about their dealings from whoever resided there, whether they be friend, foe, beast, or monster.

The Black Suit that'd nearly discovered her back at the town, she knew from first glance that he monitored the Southern Lands, along with two others. He'd been her handler back then, after all. The Southern Lands had seldom changed from back then, as well. Finding the area he was set up in would be no trouble... the only problem was getting him to talk afterwards. Zagreb, like a majority of the Black Suits of the Organization, were disinclined to talk about their own operations, let alone those of the Organization itself. Well, one way or another... she was going to make him talk. Even if she had to snap his arms and break his legs. There was nothing else for her to lose, now.

No reason for her to hold back any longer.

— **«¤¥¤» —**

Eyeing the mass of food the boy had procured from the various villagers with what money she'd given him, Galatea thought of the boy's words back in the woods about Elda. Of course, she could see exactly the reason why she'd worry over the girls more than the boys, being that girls, and especially orphaned ones, were prime targets for kidnapping by the Organization; where they would be shuffled to their headquarters in the far east and forcibly turned into warriors. The "Claymores" and "Silver-Eyed Witches", as ordinary people have labeled them. What she didn't understand was why the boys, as well? Yoma are generally male, but it wasn't like they were... human to begin with.

No, unless she was overthinking it, how Yoma become what they are in the first place had been explained— she looked up from her crossed arms and focused back on the boy.

_The Organization had never given a proper explanation._

She didn't display her shock as the boy grinned widely, coming up to her with his mass of food. "I'm ready to go!"

"Then let's move on." _Yes..._ Whatever the reasons for the Organization's lack of information regarding the Yoma were, she'd find her answers in Sterret.

Where her fellow warrior was waiting.


	3. Love

**|||. Love**

_"If what you want most is to keep those precious to you close, then you must be prepared to go through seemingly never-ending hardship. That is what it means to truly love someone."_

Miss Elda had told her those words, what now seemed like a long time ago. Staring around at the men in black attire and the hollow silver eyes of girls with pale-blonde hair, Dietrich could feel nothing but the cold. When life would light up in some of their eyes and they'd either sneer at or comfort her and the others on what could only be described as something truly terrible, she shivered.

Saying that, in the next few hours, inside dark and damp rooms that resembled prison cells, they were to lose that which they took for granted. That which they'd never have again.

Their humanity.

And, in time, that which they'd never have again would become something they'd never identify with again. As, after the procedure, the only thing they'd be regained as… would be monsters.

Standing in a line organized by a number of different factors she'd lost track of in all the analyzing that'd taken place in the first hour, Dietrich's legs were like gelatin. Yet, she couldn't wobble or she'd been taken away, just as a few already had.

_"If what you want most is to keep those precious to you close…"_

They'd be called, one by one, into a chamber with chains in the center, two hanging from the ceiling and two secured to the floor in relative position to one another. As Dietrich and the others waited, she could hear the torment and anguish of the girls already there. In that time, she'd managed to exchange a silent conversation with the girl to her left. Only, the girl was now gone and the screams she now heard were most likely hers'.

_"Then you must be prepared to go through seemingly never-ending hardship…"_

Next was to be her turn.

_"That is what it means to truly love someone."_

— **«¤¥¤» —**

"Round up the others, don't bother with this one." The man in the black suit said as he continued to smile, having finished moving from her to the other girls around the fire. His gaze was on a girl with barely open eyes, wearing shoes that resembled her own.

A girl was slumped forward, propped against a tree, hands on her lap. Her shirt was torn at the waist diagonally; three large tears, like claw slashes. Underneath the torn fabric of her shirt were clots of dried blood. The wounds had oozed and pooled profusely until someone had closed them up.

Dietrich squinted, trying to make out the face in the dark. She couldn't and decided to get closer, faltering and falling down as she soon as she took the first step. She looked at her outstretched hand and tried to move her fingers. They twitched. Moving her leg, it barely responded. Her eyes went from herself to the girl. Heinrike had the same hairstyle. Her movements were sluggish and there was nothing she could do about it but struggle in vain.

The man in the black suit was shaking his head, and when he walked away from her friend, not giving a second thought, she found the one thing she did have control over: her voice.

"You…!" Her stomach grinded itself into the ground as she wiggled. "You… piece of shit…!" Her snarling expression was like a wolf helpless in the face of its den-mates being killed by hunters. Hunters who didn't know the first thing about compassion and what it meant to be truly human. "What'd you do to her!? What are you planning on doing with the rest of us?!"

The man in the black suit, the smile still on his face, turned to her, "I've done nothing to that girl. Nor am I going to in the future." He came forward and cupped his hand under her chin. "But, as for you and the others, I'm giving the opportunity of a lifetime."

The majority of the other girls were protesting just as loud as she was, but a few of them were taking what the man in the black suit said to heart, remaining silent. _The opportunity of a lifetime._

He tilted his head, pondering something. "You, too, have something to gain from all of this. Do you not?" If he was taken aback by her hostile expression, there was no sign. "'To see them again', wasn't it?" Briefly, he looked at Heinrike against the tree. "Ah, unless you already have…"

She spat at his arm. "Let go of me! You can't just leave her here! Heike is—!"

"Your friend is dead." The man in the black suit stood up and let her chin fall to the ground with a thud. "Face reality. It's the only thing you're going to experience from here onwards."

Hot tears streaming from her eyes and soaking into the ground, Dietrich's teeth were at risk of breaking from the pressure of her hatred. Desperately, frantically, she tore the remainder of the way to her friend's side. Nuzzling her cheek to her friend's leg, she felt warmth. She wasn't dead.

Heike… Heike wasn't… She couldn't be dead! She just couldn't! She was still warm, which meant she was still alive and… And that meant the man in the black suit had lied! She was—!

That was when her eyes flooded over. The heat from the fire was what'd been keeping Heinrike's body warm all this time. She knew. She knew and yet she… She couldn't just…

The others were all gone, nowhere in sight. Heinrike was the first one she'd seen after opening her eyes and the last she'd wanted to leave behind.

But now…

A man seized her, slinging her over his shoulder and she bit him hard, drawing blood but receiving no response. And, as she and the other girls were hauled off, she cried out for her friend, getting further and further away from her.

The fire had burned out. Her body was sure to freeze, all alone with nobody there by her side.

And, in Dietrich's mind, that was the moment when everything changed.

— **«¤¥¤» —**

Led by two burly men into the chamber, Dietrich looked over at a table with various instruments, all of them bloodied to some extent. The floor was bathed in crimson scars, the walls covered in darkness. As her ruined shoes were shuffled across the chamber to the chains that were to bind her in place, she felt the dampness they'd spoken of; tears and torment. Spit, vomit; anything that someone in the most unbearable of pains would spew forth in their coping with the pain. The sodomizing of their heart and raping of their soul.

Her arms were held up, cuffed on the wrists by the chains that hung from the ceilings; her legs by the chains secured to the floor. Her clothes were removed and she stood there naked, exposed to the men in black attire that now entered the room.

One of them placed something on the table, wrapped in a dirty cloth. Whatever was inside moved. The other took one of the sharper-looking instruments from the table and something else. Something round, like a pill. He came up to her and shoved the pill-like object into her mouth and down her throat. As she gagged and spit and cursed his existence, he went back to the table.

The way he walked was… hazy. The room felt as if it were spinning and Dietrich started to lose all sense of where she was, what she'd been doing till then, and what was about to happen. Another, even heavier sedative.

Drool leaked from her mouth as she tried keeping her head up, making out that the man who'd given her the pill was back, rubbing the front of her body with something. It was wet and it burned. Badly. She wanted to cry out from what felt like a thousand hot embers being needled into every pore in her skin but bit down on her lip, blood mixing in with the drool. She wasn't… not anymore. For Heinrike's sake and that of the others.

The other man, the one who'd set that moving cloth down, was making sure her chains were rigid and no amount of force would break them. When he finished and nodded to his partner, her back hit something solid, and she was lowered down, now resting on a table that hadn't been there before. And, then, what felt like cold metal being pressed to the spot just above her chest. Her throat. The pressing became a stab, and she heard a squelch as the blade started moving downwards. Down and down, further and further until it reached her just above groin area.

_"Pain is… Well, there are two types of pain, Dietrich…"_

As the blood started to pool at the incision the other man produced another cloth and patted her down. When the man with the sharp instrument came back with the dirty cloth that'd been on the table, the other man slowly and carefully parted the skin that'd been cut.

_"The first is physical, and those can always go away with time…"_

She saw the man unwrap the cloth. Something fleshy and dark in color, like a very moldy green, was now in his hand. He tore it apart and sprinkled it all along the incision he'd made.

_"The second is emotional…"_

When he finished, the other man took what looked to be oversized thread and needle, which he proceeded to weave in and out of her skin, closing the incision.

_"Emotional pains, unlike physical, never go away."_

And, when they stepped back and waited, that was when the agony started. Whatever it was that'd been sprinkled inside of her was wrapping itself around her intestines and pushing its way into her bloodstream. Writhing, she closed her eyes.

_"Sure, you can lock them away so they don't hurt you anymore, but in truth they never leave you…"_

Biting down all the harder, her body felt as if it were being drowned in burning oil, and, in her spasms, she tried to remember Miss Elda's words to her. That physical pain was nothing if you could endure it. She remembered Heinrike.

_"And, when brought to the surface again…"_

The memories of their time together, the way she always acted so timid. Afraid of everything and, yet, when push came to shove, always dependable. Always there for her. Always able to cool the waters between her and Alric.

The softness of her eyes, the warmth of her smile. Sweet and never threatening. Beautiful brown hair, a nose which looked too small compared to those big blue eyes. A stuttering, quiet voice. One that would never speak again.

_"They are never-ending."_

And that was when her howls began.


End file.
